Take a look back at Alex Smith's career in Kansas City

Eagles RB Darren Sproles talks about his rehab and likely comeback

Chiefs' Ty Hill on where he needs to improve as a WR

Chiefs safety Eric Berry wants to be in Kansas City next season, won't play in the Pro Bowl and went to Mission Trail Middle School in Olathe to greet NFL Play 60 Super Kid Sophie Schneider, a seventh-grader. Tammy LjungbladThe Kansas City Star

Chiefs safety Eric Berry wants to be in Kansas City next season, won't play in the Pro Bowl and went to Mission Trail Middle School in Olathe to greet NFL Play 60 Super Kid Sophie Schneider, a seventh-grader. Tammy LjungbladThe Kansas City Star

Berry made $10.8 million as the Chiefs’ franchise player last season. If the Chiefs don’t sign him to a long-term contract and place the franchise tag on him again, he’ll cost about $13 million in 2017.

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Berry, 28, is coming off perhaps the best of his seven NFL seasons. He returned interceptions for touchdowns at Carolina and Atlanta, plus a two-point defensive conversion to provide the winning points against the Falcons.

Teammates cite the value of his strong locker room presence and leadership role, not that coach Andy Reid needed reminding.

“I think everybody here would love to have Eric back,” Reid said last week after the Chiefs were eliminated in the playoffs. “We feel he’s a big part of the team. I don’t think that’s different in the front office …

“You just have to wait those things out and see how it goes.”

Berry said he declined an opportunity to play in the Pro Bowl in Orlando, Fla., but it wasn’t because of the threat of injury.

“I’ve been through a lot, so I’m not scared really of injury,” said Berry, who missed the final five games of the 2014 season while battling Hodgkin lymphoma. “I just need time to reflect.

“I just had a chance to visit my aunt, who is battling (breast) cancer. It’s just more of a life thing and a family thing.”

Berry, who was selected for his fifth Pro Bowl, will be replaced by the Broncos’ Darian Stewart.

Take a look back at Alex Smith's career in Kansas City

Eagles RB Darren Sproles talks about his rehab and likely comeback

Chiefs' Ty Hill on where he needs to improve as a WR

Chiefs safety Eric Berry and team mascot KC Wolf on Wednesday paid a visit to Mission Trail Middle School in Olathe to greet seventh-grader Sophie Schneider, won the National Football League’s NFL Play 60 Super Kid contest. The contest encourages kids to stay active, make healthy choices and get 60 minutes of physical activity every day. As the winner, Sophie, 13, will travel to Houston for Super Bowl LI on Feb. 5, when she will serve as a student correspondent for ABC’s “Good Morning America” and deliver a game ball to the field. Tammy LjungbladThe Kansas City Star